Au revoir Ashton Court (an obituary of sorts)
July 21st, 2007
Last weekend was the 33rd Ashton Court Festival (2) - the annual multi arts festival for which Bristol is now well renowned. It was remarkable to see the festival in action again. After years of financial struggles, caused by foot and mouth, moving sites to the other side of Bristol and rapidly spiraling costs, the future of the festival eventually looked bleak this year.
In the face of these difficulties, the incredible crew of volunteers that organise the festival managed to pull something out of the bag. They patched the holes, raided some piggy banks and hey presto, a festival. It didn’t quite work like clockwork this year, but Saturday was a definitely a success. After all this effort, and years of great work, the future of the festival was finally decided by the torrential rain that fell over Bristol on Saturday night. Access to the site by vehicle was made incredibly difficult, with the emergency services announcing that they could not get on site, and therefore, the festival could not open (for it would be in breach of its license). The loss of a days revenue was enough to finish the festival off. Yesterday, it was announced that the festival is to be liquidated.
Although I no longer live in Bristol, I personally consider this a great loss to the city. I grew up with the festival during the 90s (a useful list of lineups since 1994), and it inspired me to get involved in promoting music (both live and otherwise). I became a volunteer at the festival at the end of the 90s, and have taken great pleasure in helping to nurture it over the years. I was initially invited to sit on the festival music committee - a group of local promoters and music industry heads who listen to all of the demos that get sent to the festival, in order to make the arduous decision about who should play. I also crewed stages at the festival, and moved on to supervise both the main and amphitheatre stages.
Over the years, there have been highs and lows. A few that stick out include
- looking after Robert Plant and watching him almost get mobbed by 1000ish Led Zep fans, despite being surrounded by security escorts
- being accused of being scientists, undertaking experiments in a portakabin on the main stage, by a slightly worse for wear GLC
- Super Furry Animals‘ tour manager throwing his phone on the floor and quitting shortly prior to their set, with no sign of a band, and no means of us contacting them
- and finally, the fact that The Fall will be the last ever band to play the festival seems somewhat symbolic, but I’m not sure how yet
This loss will leave a hole in the Bristol summer musical calendar, and I sincerely hope that at some point in the future it is filled with an equally worthwhile event.
One Response to “Au revoir Ashton Court (an obituary of sorts)”
1mr_h
July 24th, 2007 @ 22:43
A fitting tribute, Tom - your obvious love of the festival every year was a joy ( and given your valued logistical deftness, a marvel ) to behold. I wish I had been there to have seen the final Saturday - and it sounds like the impromtu ‘mini-venn’ in town on the Sunday holds hope for something to rise up in it’s place . . .
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